Question of the Day: Is MAIG On the Ropes?

As Frank pointed out in last night’s Digest this has been a bad week for capo Bloomberg. The man who funds America’s civilian disarmament movement suffered a major loss of face when his No More Names bus tour road show cited the Boston Marathon bomber as a victim of “gun violence.” It was such a major faux pas the mainstream media picked it up. The Mayors Against Illegal Guns was forced—forced I tell you—to issue an apology. Then again, that’s pretty much inside baseball gun control stuff. The real danger that MAIG’s men face: boredom with the bloody shirt. No matter how dramatically misleading the message [buying guns off the internet as above] MAIG’s insistence on dancing in the blood of victims gets old. Bloomberg can’t last forever. But can this strategy? Aren’t we as Americans too positive a people to accept an endless diet of misery? I mean Kim Kardashian’s baby.

What idiots. Where is it legal to buy a gun on the internet? Its not. Thats plain and simple. Yet these dirt bags keep pushing their lies. Any gun purchased on the internet must be transferred first to a legal gun dealer where you then must pass a background check before taking delivery of that gun. Bloomberg is a disgrace. he walks around with six or more highly armed guards each carrying more then seven rounds in their guns. But try and ask Bloomberg about it like a reporter did not long ago and his bully guards will push you around. Freedom of speech doesn’t apply when its a reporter asking Bloomberg about all the guns he has around him.

No, it will never go away. Part of the cost of a free society is free speech for those who would destroy that society. They will fade to the background, but they’ll be back. If the gun grabbers truly have been beaten back for now, it’s probably time to work on cleaning up the education system.

I’ve wondered about this as well. Why did attempts at sweeping Federal legislation basically fizzle after Newtown? It was at least as horrible as Dunblane (UK) and Port Arthur (Australia). In those cases, sweeping gun grabbing legislation was passed and implemented I believe in less than a year in the UK and in a matter of months in Australia. But not here. Why?

Certainly there are cultural issues at play. But are Americans more shallow than Brits or Aussies or have a faster reset button? I am not convinced. Clearly firearms were not as, for want of a better term, integrated into their cultures (at least outside of hunting) as they are in the US. We can probably thank the movements on concealed carry and recent POTUS decisions like Heller for that – more people own guns for purposes explicityly separate from hunting here. That is perhaps an important indicator that something is cultural different.

Are Americans more bloodthirsty that Brits and Aussies. Maybe, but it’s hard to see that. Not to be too light hearted about it, but consider Australian football and the regular riots in the UK involving almost anything (football matches, G8 visits, youth boredom, etc.).

I think there are structural differences that certainly matter. Our governments are structured differently. I actually believe that I, personally, have representation in Congress. That is MY congressman. That is MY senator. I expect them to do consider my views in their work. I’m not sure they feel that way in the UK or Australia. I think there is a different level of representative accountability, among other reasons. It is not a lot, perhaps, but it is usually enough to slow things down so that even in the face of media bloodsport and MAIG waving their infamous bloody shirts, it is very difficult to just ramroad through Federal legislation.

The exceptions, of course, on the state level in NY, MD, CT, CO and CA are the degree of entrenchment of the civilian disarmament mindset in their state houses. Where that exists, slamming through emotional responses to horror is quite easy. There is basically no accountability at least until the next election cycle. Oh, wait, tell that to Colorado’s Morse and Giron, both facing immediate recall.

I think MAIG will run its course. I would be surprised if their bus tour completes its full schedule. Way too many people see through the bloody shirt waving. In the face of similar horror, the Brits and Aussies demanded a plan! Demanded action! And they got it. In America, politics happens at the kitchen table. I think everyone after Newton sat and thought about those poor kids and their parents. But I think the difference is that we Americans, by the millions, slightly morphed the question “what should be done” into “what would we do if someone tried to hurt our child or our family, not just at school, but anywhere?” People here are taking more responsibility for their personal defense and for the safety of their family. Clearly not everyone, but there are indicators this number is increasing. Gun sales are through the roof and frankly I think most of us TTAG readers are only a very small portion of that. If nothing else, we’re basically out of money as we started buying more guns and ammo five years ago. Our disposable income is a bit flat and our credit cards are maxed. Something is driving the increase in CCW applications, firearms training schedules, and gun and ammo purchases. And it ain’t just us.

Of course, I could easily be very, very wrong. I remember overhearing co-workers – professionals, mind you – commenting during lunch on a news story years ago when the National Holocaust Museum opened. One of them quipped, “Gad, but I am sick of all this holocaust thing. I mean, it was YEARS ago. It’s so old news!”

Maybe we are that shallow. I admit that even I, who tens to eschew popular media, know the gender of KK’s baby (girl), and its name (North). Sigh.

Federal legislation was just air cover for the ground game at the state level. We need fewer one-party rule states. the republicans have basically ceded the inner city even though people are totally sick of the welfare culture and want more personal responsibility. But to be fair, no amount of “jobs” programs will help people with a drug conviction as most employers do a check. Ending the war on drugs needs to be a top priority, if someone has the courage to take that on in 2014 or 2016.

Well, Ron Paul is too old for it and has given up on the idea. But Gary Johnson might be convinced to run again, or maybe not.
He garnered so few votes because the media virtually ignored him. Which they will continue to do, no doubt about that.

So it’s really hard for third-party candidates. The game is rigged from the get-go. Maybe more states allowing voting for “none of the above” will ease in change. I think it would. What would they do if “none of the above” actually WON?
I’m sure they’d endure many sleepless nights worrying about it.

I can care less about celebrity gossip but I feel bad for that kid. It will never have to want in its life, being the child of Kim and Kanye but for the same reason will be the dumbest and most pompus person to walk this earth.

Yes, there are structural differences. England and Australia look to the munificent government to take are of the “uglier” elements in society. Here, some will call for disarmament; others will cowboy up and say, “Mess with my family and I’ll put a bullet in your skull.”

people have been bored with the bloody shirts and dead baby pictures since Roe v Wade. If that’s their A game, bring it on.

P.S. homicide is down 50% since 1990, suicide share of firearms is down to 50% in 2011 from 61% in 1990, and the unintentional firearms death rate is down 90% since 1968 (its barely measurable at .3 per 100k). Oh, and both the number of intentional injuries and the rate of unintentional injuries are down (20% and 30% respectively) since the CDC has started tracking them in 2000. Did I mention that for the first time in quite a while more people feel safer with a gun in the home than without? Thanks to Ruger and Beretta (and Mossburg) I guarantee there are no terrorists under my bed. fV[K the NSA and FISA.

Something that bugs the hell out of me, and I guess this makes me something less than a fan of unfettered capitalism, is that someone with the amount of capital Bloomberg glories in literally cannot run out of money, short of some sort of overwhelming geo-physical/political upheaval. If his interest doesn’t waver, he’s not going away until he “shuffles off this mortal coil”.

I would like to see Bloomer-boy spend either his own or New York City’s money on idiotic projects like these, and lose. Neither the dwarf nor Bedbug Central will suffer from a few tens of millions going down the drain, but it is always fun to watch thugs’ money go up in smoke. If the spying at Bloomberg LP remains in the limelight (hey, Rupe, are you listening as you prepare to roll out your own financial services information network?) and if more Bloomberg LP clients bail, life may become somewhat difficult for the megalomaniac midget. Here’s hoping for the best!

There is a divide in the America that is best summarized by a comment made by the former directer of the Shin Bet (the Israeli equivalent of DIA) to the effect that you should look for people not objects. The Bloombergs of the world look at objects for danger, people like us look for dangerous people. A grey haired guy walking his dogs with an M-16 slung over his shoulder is not a threat. A surly character in a hoodie harassing people on the street is whether he has a gun or not. When a gun grabber figures this out he stops being a gun grabber.

Since no one has said this yet regarding the video: Virginia Tech is the worst mass shooting for gun grabbers to cite in favor of high capacity magazine bans.

The shooter, who I will not name, carried with him a backpack of 10 and 15 round magazines for his two pistols – a Walther .22 and a Glock 17. Who knows how many times he reloaded, but without any armed response to stop him he casually continued reloading and killing innocents unopposed.

If you are talking about my post, why would I promote MAIG on a gun site? In case you haven’t noticed MAIG doesn’t want us gun people to know about their upcoming locations and so they are refusing to publish a list of upcoming stops. I worked hard to ferret out some upcoming locations and I have been trying to share them with Pro2A folks so that they can be aware and show up to counter protest stops in their area. It ain’t spam. It’s valuable info for anyone interested in counter protesting. Although the response so far varies from yawns to people accusing me of promoting MAIG.